Since this is a pretty hot topic on the forums I thought I would post my own list of things to help the electrical system of the Mille stay fresh and in good operating condition. The very first thing that everyone should do is resurface the grounds to the electrical system on their bike. This is the most simple thing to do and the ground is most often a problem in any electrical system on any auto or bike simply because NO ONE EVER TAKES IT INTO CONSIDERATION. In the human body everyone knows of veins and arteries but on machines everyone just pays attention to the positive side of the circuit. The ground is most important as current can only flow through the positive end as fast as it can return through the negative!

And just because the connection looks clean doesn't mean it's optimized. You REALLY want to brush the surface to get it nice and shiny. Cleaning the contacts this way is the only way to assure a really good connection to the mating surfaces. I used a flat file which surely shined them up. Then if you live along the ocean you can assemble the pieces and spray them with battery terminal corrosion preventative spray coating. If you look at the most race cars and car stereos you will see how seriously the engineers take the ground lead. You should too.

There is a ground that is connected to the engine as well but I didn't get a picture of it. Maybe sometime if I can remember.

I have had my dash/instrument cluster reset on me a few times and the battery is somewhat new. This is the first step anyone should take against this issue. Next I'm going to replace the starter relay as this is sometimes said to be a drain on the electrical system as well as some of the connectors. Mine has always started just fine but I bought a Battery Tender as a preventative measure just in case. Next I plan on buying an Odessey battery PC310 to replace the larger normal lead acid battery.

Here is also a wonderful forum thread that shows a more involved fix for the dash reset problem. I wouldn't mind giving this a try either. This looks like the ultimate sure fire fix for the dash reset problem for Aprilias.

2 weekends ago I was suited up and riding with my riding crew all over the back roads in my area. It started up fine in the morning so I started my day of riding. We ride pretty quickly and stop at every single stop sign and wait to make SURE that everyone in our group is ok and accounted for before we hit the next stretch of road. Well this is a lot of stopping and starting with your engine pretty hot.

Well after a couple more stops and shutting down the bike it wouldn't start and we were out in the middle of nowhere! I was like, "WTF I thought I took care of this problem with my new Yuasa battery!". It was turning over but not firing. I had wiped the contacts clean and sprayed them with solvent when I installed the new battery just before I left for the MOTO GP of Laguna Seca in July. I had only wiped them clean and I didn't resurface them like I should have cause I was in a hurry to get to the GP that day. Also the first thing you ALWAYS want to check when trouble shooting any electrical problem is to CHECK THE GROUNDS. The electrical system can only draw as much juice from the battery as the ground connection lets it. (SEE BEGINNING OF THIS THREAD) I did this and cleaned each ground and wire brushed each ground when I rebuilt my motorcycle earlier this year so I knew that was good to go.

So what fixed my most recent problem? For me it was to really resurface the contacts for the battery. Use some emory cloth, sandpaper, wire brush... anything to get a nice shiny contact surface for mating the battery cables to the battery terminals. Get the terminal surfaces nice and raw before you put them back together. Then spray some battery terminal spray on them which keeps them from corroding. If the metal connections are left bare and exposed they will corrode and you'll start having the same problem again in time.

I'll get some pics of how mine looks soon. But for now everything seems to be firing off just fine when I hit the starter button now.

So my damn bike wouldn't fire today! It turned over just "OK" and I could smell fuel.

I cleaned the terminals extra good on the top and the bottom then bolted them back to the battery... same thing. Well the dirty terminals can cause a loss in amps and also be a hindrance to the system as it tried to charge the battery while riding.

I went ahead and cleaned my terminals as they were kinda dirty... almost looked like WD40 residue on em or something. Then I put it on the Battery Tender and it's taking a long time to charge today... somethings up. I think my turn signal integrator is toaste and causing a drain on the system. I did also find a small exposed nip in the positive cable that could easily arch and cause problems so I wrapped it up tight. I'll take before and after readings tomorrow when I ride. Something is up and it isn't the HID light!

Clean Clean Clean those battery terminals and connections! Make sure and get underneath just like I'm pointing out in this pic.

And scrub the Battery Tender connector as well. Make sure things are real good and tight. I forgot to put a dab of blue threadlock on them today. I need to remember that when I get back from my ride and check the voltage tomorrow. :P

If you see one of these in the back of your bike just toss it. It's a POS integrator for the turn signals and mine never worked. Why go through the hassle of hooking something up that is an overpriced piece of crap? I didn't install it though! It came with my rear tail light assembly. What a waste of time. It's gone and the rear lights are back to normal.

So as of now I have a Yuasa battery that is 3 months old. I haven't installed a Yamaha relay for the starter yet. My bike seems to be holding a charge well now that I removed the dumb black box that was supposed to be a tail light signal integrator but never worked. I also found a very tiny open sliver in the wire that was near the positive connector on the battery cable. I don't think it was arcing or anything to ground out but I made sure to wrap it well with electrical tape.

After the bike wouldn't start last Saturday I put it on the Battery Tender while I removed the black thing and wrapped up the cable with tape. The Tender didn't turn to the green (full charged) indicator until about 6-7 hours later. So it needed a pretty good charge to get back to optimal. The next day I unplugged the Battery Tender and it started up FAST. All day long it started up multiple time just like it should. I've ridden it a couple times this week and I haven't put it on the Battery Tender yet since Saturday. I'll check the voltage with a meter before I ride it tomorrow just to check it.

My bike will crank but not start when I don't keep the battery on the Tender. I usually throw it on my bike the night before I know I'm going riding.

Today I was called for a quick ride and it started right up cold. THen I got to the gas station with my friends and it cranked and didn't start. I just let it sit for almost a minutes and it started right up thank goodness.

This has happened before when I stop and start the bike but it doesn't get charged from riding it long enough before I shut it off. I just have to let it sit for 4-5 minutes and then it will fire but not very convincingly.. just juice to fire off. It's a pain in the butt.

If I keep it topped with the Battery Tender then I never have this problem.

I'm going to hard wire the regulator tonight I think. We'll see what happens when I take the brown connector out of the problem. Battery Tender is good practice but it would be nice just to have it working perfectly all the time and not have to be so dependent on the Tender.

The cranking but no start has happened to me a dozen times and I have a brand new battery. It did it before and after I had the new battery. Currenty the Tender keeps it topped up and it will fire every time when I disconnect for a ride. I think the systems just drain enough to allow the bike to turn over but it just won't fire the plugs.. remember it has FOUR spark plugs to light.

THIS IS THE PROBLEM with just about every single Aprila Mille that has problems charging, starting, dash resetting etc. etc. Here is my thread explaining the process as I soldered mine straight and it's works like new now! http://www.fourwheelforum.com/showthread.php?t=245

I still haven't put the Yamaha solenoid in but I will be doing that in the near future when I have time. I've been full speed ahead working on my V8 engine swap into my Toyota Tacoma.